Today’s modern laboratory X-ray technology is continuously advancing. Microfocus sealed-tube and rotating-anode source have increased greatly in brightness over the last several years.

Liquid-metal jet sources are seeing increased popularity. This goes along with significant improvements in multilayer X-ray optics, leading to sources that can now rival the intensity of second generation synchrotron beam lines. The rapid development in technology gives more options than ever before—but it can also lead to confusion about how the various sources perform compared to one another.